This invention relates broadly to the art of hypodermic needles and more specifically to a device for protecting technicians using hypodermic needles from accidentally sticking themselves with the needles.
A continuous problem for those using hypodermic needles, especially those using them often, such as nurses and the like, is that they sometimes "stick" penetrate the skin) themselves. Although such "sticking" can be a nuisance, under some circumstances it is deadly. For example, if one should stick his finger with a hypodermic needle which has previously been inserted into a patient having a deadly, blood-transmitted, disease it could mean death. In this regard, technicians working in laboratories are often handling syringes having deadly test samples therein for use with laboratory animals and the like. Disposable syringes normally come with caps on the needles thereof. These caps are normally removed by a technician by gripping the cap with one hand and the syringe with the other and pulling them apart. The cap is normally placed on a work surface while the technician utilizes the syringe to give a shot, transfer serum etc. and after the technician is through using the syringe both hands are again used to apply the cap to the needle. Thereafter, the syringe is normally discarded with the cap thereon. A critical step in this procedure is reapplying the cap to the needle because the technician is most likely to be stuck during this step. A number of suggestions have been made for preventing technicians from sticking themselves, most of them involving special needle caps having lateral-guards built thereon. Several such devices are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,629,453 to Cooper and 4,623,336 to Pedicano et al. Although these caps, having laterally extending guards, do help protect technicians, they are somewhat bulky, making them difficult to store. Further, th laterally extending guards sometimes come into contact with other things, inadvertently knocking them from the needles. Also, such special caps still require users to use both hands for removing and reapplying them which involves wasted motion. It is an object of this invention to provide a device allowing easy and safe removal and reapplication of needle caps from and to hypodermic needle assemblies with reduced possibilities of users sticking themselves.
Other difficulties with needle caps having guards, and caps in general, is that when they are not in use, they tend to become mislaid and sometimes technicians must later spend valuable time looking for them. Also, although caps with guards thereon help protect technicians, they are not foolproof in that needles can still slip off the guards and inadvertently penetrate technicians. Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a device allowing the removal and application of hypodermic needle caps which tends to prevent such caps from becoming lost and which provides a virtually foolproof means of applying caps to needles without users thereof sticking themselves therewith.
Further, it is an object of this invention to provide a hypodermic needle-cap handling device which is inexpensive to manufacture but yet which is durable, autoclavable and extremely effective in operation.